Museum of Natural Curiosity

The Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point is probably the most elaborate, amazing kid's museum that I have ever seen. The fact that I didn't see many pictures or a map on the website set me up for quite a surprise during our afternoon visit.

The Rainforest is essentially a giant playground 3 stories high that is robust enough for adults to traverse. 

Above the Rainforest there is a Ropes Course built into the rafter area where I espied this kid going along all by himself which did cause me a certain amount of angst.

Then there is the Kidopolis which is a very elaborate kids town filled with rooms dedicated to different themes: a laundromat, a 2-story library, a magicians shop, and a community theater to name a few. Jonah changed the Kiosk on the theatre to read "LEGO Batman."

There is also a huge Water Works section and many nooks and crannies inside that I did not photograph.

Outside is a huge Discovery Garden complete with faux caves that imitate the nearby Timpanogos Cave National Monument, as well as a goldfish pond and several play areas not pictured.

These pictures do not do this place justice by any means. If you have kids and are in the Salt Lake City area, this place should be high on the priority list. 

With the ASTC Travel Passport Program, we saved $39 on admission. However, I would say this place is worth paying the fee if you plan on staying a few hours. This was our second stop for the day after the Museum of Ancient Life so we only stayed a couple of hours.

Related articles

• Summer Day at Utah's Olympic Park (shannafern.com)
• Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point (shannafern.com)

Lake Lotus Park

Lake Lotus Park Map

Occasionally, we find urban parks operated by county and municipal governments that offer high quality nature experiences. We visited one of those this past weekend. Lake Lotus Park is a 150-acre nature preserve operated by the town of Altamonte Springs. There is a playground and picnic shelters with restroom facilities - these are set back from the lake in a forest that somewhat resembles a subtropical jungle. From there a boardwalk takes you to the lake where it widens out into a very large fishing area and then back into boardwalk again before looping back to the picnic area. There are actually a couple of different loops but none are very long. I found the "you are here" signs to be a joke, but never fear, you can't really get lost as all paths lead back to the picnic area.

Playground at Lake Lotus Nature Park

Monday through Wednesday the park is closed to the public in order to provide STEM focused field trips to Seminole County Public School students called Altamonte Springs Science Incubator program. The rest of the week it is open to from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. It is a lovely place to get away from the congestion of the greater Orlando area and experience nature. No dogs or bikes are allowed. Parking is located on the other side of Maitland Avenue. It is only a short walk via an underpass into the park or visitors can ride the tram.

Related articles

• A Visit to Historic Yate's Mill County Park (shannamama.blogspot.com)
• Fishing with Kids a Blue Jay Point (shannamama.blogspot.com)

Birthday Bon Voyage Party

We wanted to give the kids a birthday party with their friends before leaving town. Even though Jonah doesn't turn 7 for another six weeks, we wanted it to be for both of them. We reserved a room at Greystone Community Center and invited friends to share pizza, cake and ice cream and play on the indoor playground. While not everyone could make it today, they had a great time with those who were able to come. And, I was pleased to get a few pictures of them with friends.

Fishing with Kids at Blue Jay Point

Last weekend, we got up early-ish and went to Blue Jay Point County Park on Falls Lake to go fishing.  The weather turned out to be perfect for a July fishing trip compared to our last venture. It was overcast the whole morning with a occasional sprinkle. I took some reading material thinking I would be reading most of the time. But, the kids lost patience not long after getting just a few bites and never pulling anything to shore. So I started fishing using Elisabeth's Barbie pole and couldn't stop. I started catching little bluegill and even a couple of immature bass, and, well - I was hooked (pardon the pun). Alas, I am my father's daughter. 


The last hour, Jonah finally got bored throwing rocks and exploring the little peninsula we were on and decided to get serious about fishing again. So he sat with his pole in hand  (actually his sister's; his didn't survive last weekends trip - sorry Papaw!) and waited.  

After a few bites the bobber went under and I encouraged him to reel it in - and thank God, the fish stayed on. It brought joy to my heart to see him so excited upon reeling in his first catch. 

You can barely see the fish in this photo but it's there

He too caught the fishing fever and proceeded to catch two more little guys. Kelly got tired of fruitlessly going for the big stuff and decided he wanted to have some fun and catch something.  Mommy caught the most at 10 mostly on Elisabeth's Barbie pole no less - not much to brag about perhaps but bragging is part of fishing!

Daddy setting up the poles 

Elisabeth getting into the fishing

No swimming baby girl!

Elisabeth finding other entertainment

Before we left Blue Jay Point the kids got a little playground time. They were cracking me up on the spring animals.

Brooklyn Parks and Shopping

View of lower Manhattan & Brooklyn Brdg from Park

Manhattan Bridge from Playarea

After the subway fiasco the day before, I decided that today I would try something different.  Kelly was planning to spend the evening out with his coworkers so I decided to go to him for lunch.  I knew that there was not an accessible subway stop near his work, so if I took the double stroller I would have to walk the whole way, which is tiresome and time consuming.  I had already piddled the morning away and it was nearly 11 a.m.  So I pulled the umbrella stroller out of the car and told the kids they would have to take turns riding in it and headed for the closest subway station.  We got off at the nearest station to Kelly's work, walked a few short blocks to his office building where he met us on the street.  We walked a couple more blocks to his favorite deli and picked up some food and then went to the Empire Fulton Ferry State Park to eat.  Kelly kept telling Jonah about the playground in the shape of a big ship located there (which I didn't get a photo of), so he was excited about it.  The playground was in the shadow of Kelly's office building and right on the water which made it a bit chilly.  But it was nice to have a nice relaxing lunch while the kids played - they didn't really eat their lunch until after Kelly went back to work.  Then I played "shark" with the kids - imagine a modified tag where mommy tries to grab your legs while you run around on the play equipment.  This park had great views of Manhattan, but the Manhattan bridge being so close meant we heard the noise of the subway train going across almost constantly (we rode this same train a number of times on our visit).

After a quick restroom stop back in Kelly's building, we walked back up the hill and got on the subway just to get off at the next stop (in order to reduce the amount of complaining from Jonah for having to walk).  We got off on Fulton street and went in a few stores.  There was this kids only store called Cookies Department Store that I wanted to check out and a few other stores that were new to me.  I bought the kids a toy each among other things and we continued our walk to our apartment.  We took our stuff to the apartment and then I let the kids play at the playground, then picked up some "take out" from Rice.  We had a fairly relaxing evening in, while Kelly and his coworkers headed into Manhattan for some authentic Korean food that required him to remove his shoes.

Elisabeth's First Tube Slide

Elisabeth has been to Chick-fil-a and other places with those indoor play areas many times. But despite our encouragement, she goes up the stairs but then just comes right back down the same way she climbed up. She never really makes it up to the fun stuff nor has she ever actually gone down one of the slides, until last week. Kelly and I were sitting outside the play area while the kids were inside. She would go in, climb up, climb back down and then come to the door and want out to be with us, just to get back down, go back in and repeat the cycle.  After 6 or 8 times of her doing this, I went in and watched her.  And all the sudden, she goes up and actually goes into the linked play tunnels and down the slide - first time ever.

I found this old post of Jonah's first attempt at enjoying these areas to their fullest - he was 18 months old.  I couldn't find a post that spoke of his first successful attempt, but as I recall it was only a couple of months after this that he began to get comfortable playing in these areas.  Yay Elisabeth!

Toddler: Freedom to Run

I took my energetic 18 month old to the neighborhood park this afternoon. This playground is great for toddlers. He loves having the freedom to run and this is one place I can just let him be free for awhile without panicking when he takes off.

Jonah's First Attempt at the Indoor Slide

Jonah and I went to Chick-fi-la for lunch today. I let him go in the play area after he ate (he ate an entire kids meal by the way). They have a few interactive play things down low that he can play with and he also enjoys watching the other kids climb up into the play apparatus and come out the other side. After a while, he decided to try and join the big kids. The stair steps are large and platform like and spiral around to the top. From there it connects to tunnels and a slide to get down. The stairs up are just the right height to allow him to climb up. I new he was probably to small and would get lost up top somewhere and I'd have to send a child to rescue him, but I decided to let him go for it anyway. I took his shoes off and he climbed up to the top platform where there is wire mesh and he could see out. He was smiling and celebratory once he got up there. Then he changed his mind and decided he didn't really like that after all and started crying out. Other kids were going by and I asked one of them to show him to the slide, but Jonah wouldn't go with him. So I climbed up the platform stairs and rescued him. So we found out the hard way that he's not quite ready for those big play areas at restaurants.